Day By Day With DeiDei
by shilhouette68
Summary: Three months after his senpai's death, Tobi wandered inside Deidara's now empty room. Turns out, it wasn't as empty as he thought.


**Title:** Day-By-Day With DeiDei  
**Pairings:** Squint, and you'll see SasoDei. _Generally_, a DeiTobi.  
**Summary:** Three months after his senpai's death, Tobi wandered inside Deidara's now _empty_ room. Turns out, it wasn't as _empty_ as he thought.

* * *

It was a Sunday. 

A bright Sunday.

Tobi sat alone on a lone hill near the hideout. He had his orange swirl-mask placed on the side of his head and a half-eaten apple in his hand. He stared at the apple as if it would bite his head off.

"Where'd I get this again?"

He let out an exasperated sigh and lied down on the grass, the apple still in his hand. He was bored. There was nothing to do. No mission, no bijuu extracting, no entertainment, no excitement, no noise…

… no explosions.

It was too quiet. He didn't like it.

He wasn't used to it.

Not yet, anyway.

Whenever he and Deidara weren't doing anything, they were usually on top of a cliff, dropping bombs below; or in a forest, blowing shit up until his senpai was dry of chakra.

The forest would be in flames by that time.

He smiled at the memory; his senpai bombing every thing that moved like a madman, the snickers he would let out every now and then when a real bird would perch on a tree beside his small clay bird.

"_Dumb bird probably thinks it's his mommy, un."_

'_Crazy-senpai' Tobi thought._

-----

From time to time, in his head of course, Tobi would call Deidara 'Crazy-senpai'. It fitted him, seriously. He never told him that, though.

He would've blown a gasket.

And he would've denied it, anyway.

"_I'm not crazy, you moron. Haven't you heard of the word __**enjoyment**__?"_

… was most likely what he would've said. Or something along those lines.

-----

He was staring at the sky, then he turned his head to look at the hideout. Nine windows; three had their curtains closed, six didn't.

'They're closed when you die.' Tobi thought. Recalling that Itachi was the one who closed Deidara's curtains and that he was the one who closed Hidan's and Kakuzu's.

He sat up, that half-eaten apple still in his hand, and he let out a small yawn before standing up. He left the hill and went into the hideout. It was fairly quiet and noisy inside at the same time. Kisame's voice and the thudding of several kunai against wood faintly made their way into Tobi's ears.

Training.

He found a trashcan and dumped the apple in, becoming quite disturbed that he can't remember where or _when_ he got it. He placed his mask on his face properly and went upstairs.

He made his way around the hallway and was now turning the knob of Deidara's door. He pushed the door open and went inside his late senpai's room.

He opened the light; it flickered a little bit before illuminating the room, though.

It was _empty_. Dusty. And senpai-less.

Tobi walked pass the small table, which was at the center of the room, and to the shelf full of sculptures. He took one in his hand and examined it.

As expected, something was different.

Tobi had seen every art piece Deidara finished, and every single one of them had that special look in it; the look that makes it genuine.

The look only Deidara could give to it.

The _life_ Deidara gave to his art.

Tobi carefully turned the sculpture of a scorpion this and there, trying to find that _life_.

But it wasn't there.

It was as if its _life_ had died away with his senpai.

"Senpai wouldn't make something like this." Tobi whispered, noticing the dull eyes the sculpture had. He placed it back and made his eyes roam at each and every sculpture before turning to leave.

He forgot about the small table at the center and stumbled, hard, over it. Staggering up, he rubbed his shin painfully and noticed that he broke one of the table's legs. He lifted it into its upright position and saw a black notebook fall out. Tobi slowly took it and read what was on the front.

デイダラ

It was a small print at the bottom right-hand corner of the notebook, written in silver ink. He opened it and found the first seven pages ripped. He flipped through several more pages; seven more pages ripped. He sat down on the bed and skimmed through the illegible writing. The ink looked like it was day-by-day fading and some were smeared. There were inkblots here and there even a little drawing of a clay bird.

He turned more pages until there was actually something he could read.

It read **Monday**.

-----

Monday

_It's too quiet in here. I hate this place. I hate Mondays. I hate you. There's just nothing to do in here but wait if there's no mission. I want to go back to being a terrorist again. I want to blow something up. Like… Tobi. :D_

_Or not… Probably should give the kid a break. Or something close to that. XP Speaking of Tobi, I found something under his bed while I was dusting rooms (Leader-sama said so). It was a small box, a regular small black box, with a label that read _'senpai'_. Curiosity aroused, I was there, opening the damn thing. Inside was a small and carefully molded clay figurine of Tobi…_

_And me._

_The figurine-Tobi had, what seemed to be, a gift and it was being handed out to the mini-me. I had to admit, it was pretty decent. Everything was proportioned, shaped, and smoothened carefully. It was beautiful. And nice._

_But it lacked color. But pretty soon, I'm sure he'll get to it._

_  
----- _

Tuesday

_(scribbles here) (a drawing of the clay figurine Tobi made here) I took a small walk right past sunset. It was almost relaxing. The explosion of colors across the sky reminded me of my art. Bright and colorful (and fleeting). I sat on a bench, a few feet away from a cliff, and watched the sun leave a side of the world. Pretty soon it was dark and chilly. I spent a few hours sending little clay butterflies in mid-air and then detonating them a few seconds later, trying to keep myself amused (and making myself stay a little longer)._

_I didn't notice that rain had started to fall._

_I took cover under a tree and grabbed several big leaves for an umbrella as I made my way back to the hideout. It didn't work. I was dripping wet, sneezing, and shivering by the time I placed a foot inside the hideout._

_And Tobi was there, with two clean towels in his arms._

_"I made you a hot bath, senpai."_

_  
----- _

Wednesday

_I'm sitting in the kitchen reading, when Danna staggered in. I glanced at him then quickly ignored him. He opened the fridge and got a pitcher of water. He sat it down on the counter and went to get a glass. Upon hearing a loud thump, I raised an eyebrow and found him sprawled on the floor with shattered pieces of glass. Groaning and muttering under his breath, he got up and took another one._

_Watching him intently, I saw him pour water in the glass up to the brim._

_"Hmm… a little more." He murmured, half-squinting._

_He placed a little more amount of water, making it spill on the counter; and some dripping on the floor. He had a satisfied look on his face and a little smile curving up his lips._

_I failed to notice the redness of his face before, but now that I've thought about it, he looked like a tomato. XD He lifted the glass, some of the water spilling down his wooden hand, making a 'hmm' sound once again._

_I watched him closely, curious on to what he was planning to do with _that

_"Perfect." :D_

_That smile disturbed me._

_Then he dumped the water into the sink._

_"Oh man, I needed that…" Danna unenthusiastically said._

_Again, I raised an eyebrow._

_"What the hell are you doing, un?" I practically threw what I was reading directly at his head._

_He turned to me, squinting hard. Again I noted how red he looked._

_"It was something I drank."_

_"You reek of alcohol, Danna. I didn't even know you enjoyed sake. (Didn't even know you drank anything at all.)"_

_  
// It was a dream I had of Danna, three days after he died. Felt like writing about it._

_  
----- _

Thursday

_Improved my left eye._

-----

Tobi noted the drawings Deidara had made. It had a drawing of the Sharingan and a regular eye. It didn't make much sense to him so flipped to the next page.

-----

Friday

_Itachi practiced aiming a lot. Figures. But for a guy whose eyesight had deteriorated for years, he still had an excellent aim. The Uchiha was stoic, quiet, emotionless… and calculating. Everything I'm not. The exact opposite of what I am. It's frustrating at times when I see him train and succeed in every new thing he tries._

_I'm beginning to wonder that if I try being the emotionless bastard he had become, maybe I could be as strong as he is. Maybe I could finally take him on. But that would be turning my back against everything I stood for, and that would be the same thing as admitting he was right…_

_… about my art. That'd be unforgivable._

_Unacceptable._

_On a side note, _that_ technique I'm working on will surely counter any genjutsu he throws at me._

_  
----- _

Saturday

_Was sitting outside, watching the rain when Tobi came up beside me. Convinced myself that I wouldn't mind him unless he went to annoying-mode. But then I broke the silence, noticed that he was being unusual._

_"Something wrong?"_

_"What do you mean, Deidara-senpai?"_

_"You're quiet, un."_

_"I just came out to watch the rain, too."_

_"That doesn't explain why you're quiet."_

_"Yes it does."_

_Tobi looked at me. Stared at me. That mask was annoying! I couldn't tell if he was smiling, mocking, or sticking his tongue out at me under that thing._

_"Why do you watch the rain?"_

_"To see what makes you want to watch them. Personally I don–"_

_"Yeah. Stay quiet, un."_

-----

Tobi flipped through the last page of the notebook and found a page that read **Notes**.

_Sasori no Danna – Not the greatest person in the world, _he isn't even one_, but he makes a good art-debater._

_Kisame no Danna – Was nice enough to help me clean the dusty curtains at the basement._

_Hidan – He needs help. XD_

_Kakuzu – I'm… not good with people like him._

_Pein – A little overbearing, but… Leader-sama is okay._

_Konan – I like her hair.  
_

_Itachi – … meh. Enough said._

_Zetsu – I remember sharing five bottles of sake with that guy, not so bad. :D_

_  
Tobi…_

-----

Tobi wondered why his name was separated from the rest. Well…

The description under his name was fairly long, it was like two paragraphs long.

A shame that he couldn't read it.

Every single word had faded. He took off his mask and strained his eye, determined to read what his senpai **REALLY** thought about him.

He gave up soon after.

But he did make out the last sentence…

… _gotta say sorry to that guy before I die._

-----

**Epilogue**

A photo slipped out of the previous pages. It was old and two of the four corners were folded. It was a photo of Tobi and Deidara; all smiles. From the looks of the background, it was sunset-in-autumn. The sky was orangey and the leaves had a shade of orange-brown. The autumn sun was beating down on them.

Tobi had his mask on the side of his head, and his hand nestled on Deidara's hip, while Deidara had his hand on Tobi's shoulder. Actually, they looked like schoolboys who just graduated, and had wanted to take a photo as a remembrance.

Instinct told Tobi to look behind the photo, telling him he'd find something there. He flipped it, found something written at the back, read it, and he felt his eyes start to water.

… _Tobi had become my best friend._

* * *

_A/N: There's an illustration for the Epilogue. Go over to my profile to see. Thank you:D I'm currently working on a DeiIno fic. And I'm dedicating it to whoever. XD_


End file.
